


Better Man

by CyberDalek96



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Dark, F/M, Sexual Content, tw: abuse, tw: rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 17:44:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11879595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyberDalek96/pseuds/CyberDalek96
Summary: Rose Tyler remembers Jimmy Stone.Inspired by Little Big Town's "Better Man."Rated E for violence, rape/sexual content, and abuse.





	Better Man

**Author's Note:**

> *I do not own Doctor Who or its characters.  
> *Any grammatical errors are mine.  
> *Constructive criticism and reviews are welcome.  
> *This is my first time writing about Rose & Jimmy and the lasting effects. I myself have not had personal experience with abusive relationships, so I hope I wrote it okay.

Rose stood naked, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The scars on the outside of her body were almost nothing compared to the scars inside. The outward scars were only a glimpse of the damage he had done. She remembered the origin of each physical scar. The now-fading red marks encircling her wrists were from the ropes he had tied too tightly the first time he raped her. The jagged lines on the swells of her breasts were from his too-hard bites. The patches on her knees were from being forced to go down on him, the friction of the carpet taking its toll as he pushed and pulled her. The crescents on her thighs and ribs were from when he dug his fingernails into her soft skin as he climaxed. The crescents on her shoulders and arms were from his angry drunken nights, when he’d grab her and shake her so hard she thought she would break. She remembered her days of wearing jeans and long-sleeved shirts, of sunglasses and an excess of makeup.

The scars inside were a result of all the time she spent with him; there was no specific point in time these scars had formed.  These internal scars had consequences of their own. Her reluctance to trust others. Her avoidance of being alone with a man. Her lack of confidence. The panic attacks whenever she saw a man with long dark hair as she ran her errands and tried to get on with her life. The way she would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, panting, fisting the sheets.

Yet, somehow, she caught her self missing him every now and then. Though they were rare, there were moments of magic. Especially in the beginning. She remembered the first time he caught her eye, the first time he smiled at her, their first date, their first night just days later. She remembered the nights they’d laid in bed, talking about their future together. In the beginning, he was charming. In the beginning, it felt right, and she had fallen fast.

He began to show glimpses of his true self in month two of their relationship. By then, she wasn’t sure how to get out. She hadn’t been sure she wanted to. He hadn’t been _that_ bad at that point in time. She had forced herself to believe it would get better, that that wasn’t who he really was.

Rose stood naked, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She knew she had done the right thing by running away. She missed him less and less. She didn’t really miss _him_ , she supposed; she missed who she _thought_ he was, and she just wished he were a better man.


End file.
